Death by suicide of a Bismarck preteen draws attention to bullying
The tragic death of a North Dakota 7th grader is calling attention to the issue of bullying.
The heart-wrenching, detailed obituary about 12 year old Cherish “Chance” Houle of Bismarck who died by suicide, has received lots of attention.
Family members say that she had a tough life; she was bullied at school and living in a foster home.
“I went home and my mom sat me down and I seen hurt in her eyes and then she told me,” said Summer Nelson, Cherish’s Aunt.
What Summer Nelson’s mother told her, was that her niece had taken her own life.
12-year-old Cherish Houle talked to Summer often, but hadn’t heard from her in a couple days.
“I have a lot of questions like “why?” and “Why didn’t she just message me?” said Nelson.
Cherish has been described as goofy and always making people laugh, and will be remembered for her smile.
“She always had a smile and her little voice was just cute, and so sweet,” said Nelson.
Summer said that she noticed a difference in Cherish, who changed her name to Chance.
The teen was being bullied at school and was having issues in her foster home and became withdrawn.
“She messaged randomly and we talked for hours but then recently she just kind of drifted and we didn’t stop talking but she like kind of pushed people away,” said Nelson.
Chersh’s detailed obituary highlights the bullying she faced.
The viral post says, “the ugly truth of bullying” is doing CPR for four minutes and 26 seconds and the word bullying doesn’t begin to encompass the ugliness and pain it causes.
Her family says bullying wasn’t the only challenging issue Cherish faced.
“It wasn’t just bullying, but there was home problems to and growing up it was a tough situation. If I would’ve gotten a hold of her and told her that her dad’s going to be home soon within the end of this month, I think it would’ve probably changed her mind and everything on this outcome,” said Nelson.
Cherish’s family says that they shared the story and the crushing blow suicide caused for their family to make people aware and prevent other tragedies such as this one.
They are also hoping it encourages parents to talk to their own kids.